Harbor seals got a flipper version of a thumbs-up in the seesaw battle over shared use at La Jolla\u2019s Children\u2019s Pool after the San Diego City Council voted 6-3 to close the beach to human contact during the marine mammals\u2019 five-month pupping season.
\nDistrict 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, who represents La Jolla, along with Mark Kersey of District 5 and Scott Sherman of District 7, cast dissenting votes.
\nThe pro-pinniped vote came after Lightner\u2019s motion to oppose city staff\u2019s recommendation to approve Children\u2019s Pool seasonal beach closure from Dec. 15 to May 15 was defeated 6-3.
\nThe Feb. 24 vote came after three hours of public testimony in the decade-long battle over co-existence of the two species at the crescent-shaped pool.
\nThe Children\u2019s Pool was created in the 1930s by La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning as a safe wading area for children and ocean recreationalists.
\nBeach-access proponents argued before the City Council that the seasonal beach closure was both unnecessary and unwarranted.
\nSeal enthusiasts countered seasonal closure was essential to protecting seal mothers and pups. Their argument was bolstered by numerous videos depicting seal harassment by humans.
\nCiting her “20-year record of community activism” and “passion for supporting neighborhoods,” Lightner said she\u2019s “never been supportive of a seasonal beach closure.” She said a year-round rope barrier and ranger are in place at the pool to keep the peace between humans and pinnipeds.
\n“There are better ways to balance the needs of humans and marine mammals,” Lightner said adding she couldn\u2019t believe the Scripps\u2019 trust creating the pool could actually be interpreted to “eliminate physical access to the beach.”
\nLightner argued that appropriate studies have not been done to assess the impacts of a seasonal beach closure on the surrounding marine ecosystems.
\n“I\u2019m concerned that we\u2019re drawing a line in the sand that we do not need,” Lightner said, adding she felt the beach closure would “set a chilling precedent that public, physical access to the beach provided for in the Coastal Act is not guaranteed.”
\nLightner described the seasonal closure of the Children\u2019s Pool as\u00a0 “regulatory overkill.”
\nDistrict 9 City Councilwoman Marti Emerald disagreed with Lightner\u2019s perspective.
\n“Just because a very generous member of the community more than 80 years ago donated this pool doesn\u2019t mean we have to continue along that vein as times and circumstances change,” Emerald said. “It\u2019s also become abundantly clear that this tiny piece of beach with its harbor seals has become a regional and national treasure, as well as having gained international recognition.”
\n“We should have reverance and respect for wildlife,” noted Emerald pointing out that isn\u2019t in evidence “from the reports we\u2019re seeing about abuse of the environment and overfishing.”
\nPointing out “many people will never have the opportunity to see the miracle of birth in nature,” Emerald made her countermotion to approve the seasonal closure of the Children\u2019s Pool to protect the seal rookery.
\nSeveral La Jollans spoke against the seasonal beach closure.
\n“Seals are not an endangered species. Their population is exploding,” testified Phyllis Minnick, adding “harrassment is a myth.”
\nOthers agreed.
\n“As a result of human activities, the balance of nature has been changed,” argued La Jollan Mike Costello, a scientist. “It\u2019s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”
\nCostello is an advocate of doing a comprehensive management study to figure out best practices for dealing with pinnipeds.
\nKen Hunrichs, president of Friends of the Children\u2019s Pool advocating beach access for people, said seasonal closure would have the net effect of “criminalizing beach use.”
\nSan Diego Fire-Rescue Department lifeguard Ed Harris, who has presented an alternative plan to beach closure which envisions using faux boulders, which can be moved to encourage use of the beach by either species, chided the city for not being open-minded, warning, “You\u2019re really setting this up for litigation if you go through with this plan.”
\nSeal enthusiasts sporting name tags saying “beach for seals” defended the seasonal pool closure.
\n“It isn\u2019t safe for baby seals to share the beach with people,” said Ellen Shively, speaking for the Seal Conservancy of San Diego. “Sharing the beach during pupping season does not work.”
\nShively showed video footage depicting people prompting seals as a group to flush into the ocean, as well children touching seals, “as if this were a petting zoo.” Attorney and animal-rights activist Bryan Pease claimed the majority of San Diegans favor greater protection for seals during their pupping season.
\n“This is the final step in a management plan voted on in 2010,” Pease said. “Harassment has been ongoing.”
\nOthers agreed.
\n“You are the last defense for the seals. The buck should stop with your vote today,” said Carolyn Price.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Harbor seals got a flipper version of a thumbs-up in the seesaw battle over shared use at La Jolla\u2019s Children\u2019s Pool after the San Diego City Council voted 6-3 to close the beach to human contact during the marine mammals\u2019 five-month pupping season. District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, who represents La Jolla, along with […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":281146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Seals win key victory in long-running saga with humans","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}